Saturday, April 9, 2011

On the evening of April 7, 2011, President Yanukovych signed a Decree transferring all functions of, the State Department for Adoption and Protection of the Rights of the Child (SDA– the current central adoption authority of Ukraine), to the Ministry for Social Policy. We do not yet know how the implementation of this transfer will affect processing of adoption cases. Whether SDA will be able to continue processing currently filed cases remains unclear.

The Presidential Decree will become effective immediately upon its publication in the Government’s official newspapers, which may be as early as Monday, April 11.

According to SDA, there are now 134 U.S. families registered with the SDA, some of them already in-country. We are asking all American families that are currently in Ukraine or have appointments with SDA during the next few weeks to send their contact information to the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine’s Adoption Unit at: kyivadoptions@state.gov. Families should contact their local adoption service provider for further updates and details.

We will keep monitoring the situation and will provide updates as they become available.

Disabled persons in Eastern Europe are not valued. Their situation is and has been dire for many decades. For many of the children, their only hope of reaching their potential and for a good life is international adoption.

Adoption is not enough. But it is a start. We hope to affect cultural change by demonstrating the value of differently abled persons. That is why we beg and borrow, skimp and save.

Let us pray that this development does not adversely affect the many families in the midst of adopting from Ukraine. Let us pray that it turns out to be a positive step in the right direction.